


The Valentione's Day Ball

by FairsFair



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Everyone bullies Cloud Strife, Formalwear, Friendship, Gen, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23369491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairsFair/pseuds/FairsFair
Summary: Yuffie tricks Cloud into going to the Valentione's Day Ball at the Gold Saucer.  She invites Aerith and Tifa to come too! Cloud cleans up nicely.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Aerith/Tifa/Yuffie/Cloud, Yuffie Kisaragi/Cloud Strife
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	The Valentione's Day Ball

**Author's Note:**

> for the FF7 White's Day exchange!

“Cloud, did you ever get a prom?” Yuffie asked, tapping her fingertips together. Cloud wasn’t sure if this was casual conversation or if she was plotting something. Yuffie was a wildcard and the blond never knew how to go about answering some of the questions that would come out of her mouth.

He cleared his throat and looked back at the colorful chocobos in the square at Gold Saucer. “I, uh--” Had he? Brows knit together as he thought back. ShinRa academy had formals, right? The president had a ball every year too. Why hadn’t he gone to those? 

He looked back at Yuffie and took a sip of his drink. 

“I couldn’t get a date,” he figured. He opened his mouth, as if to ask why she was asking him, and she cut him off, lifting both of her hands high for him to see. 

“They’re going to have a ball! For Valentione’s Day!” She chirped, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “You’ve never been to one so you should go with me!”

Cloud tucked his hand along the nape of his neck. He opened his mouth again and Yuffie lifted both of her hands again to stop him.

“It’s my birthday, too,” she said, nodding eagerly. Then, her voice got a little softer, her big brown eyes watering up slightly as she looked down. “I’m a little homesick, you know, helpin’ you and your friends. It would be nice to do something fun for a change....”

Cloud looked at her for a long moment. A lime green chocobo rushed by them. Was she _joking?_ Was this not fun? Frantically, Cloud took another chug of his drink. Maybe it wasn’t fun. Was he not fun? Was he overthinking this? Probably. “I don’t think it’s my sorta thing--”

Yuffie sniffled, tiny tears spilling over her cheek. Her voice got softer, more broken. “Y-you mean you don’t--” Her lip wobbled. “You don’t want to take me out on my birthday?” A few people in the crowd started to grumble, giving Cloud a few awkward side eyes. He could feel his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. 

What was he supposed to do with this? If he didn’t do something she was going to start crying and Cloud didn’t know what to do when it came to tears. 

“Uh!” He stammered. “I don’t--uh--I don’t have any nice clothes.”

“There’s shops in Wonder Square,” Yuffie whimpered, clutching his arm with both of her small hands. She wiped her wet cheek on his shoulder. “I don’t have a dress either. Can you get me one?”

“Fine!” Cloud blurted, a little too loudly. It didn’t stop the people around him from giving him the stink-eye. “F-fine,” he said softer. “We’ll go. But,like, don’t expect me to dance or anything.”

She sniffled. “Not even one dance?”

“One dance only!” He warned. 

She grinned, the tears were a distant memory. “Okay!” 

Cloud barely had time to down the rest of his drink before she had her arm hooked through his and dragging him back toward the platform to go to the Terminal Floor. Yuffie was all smiles, her heart absolutely thrumming. Imagine--Cloud Strife--dressed up and dancing. She heard Tifa and Aerith whispering about one time Cloud dressed up before. They said he looked really cute! Man, she wanted to see that too! What an amazing birthday gift this would be! That is, if it were her birthday.

As she rushed him into Wonder Square, she saw a familiar pair of women at one of the arcade games of ‘Smack the Cact’ that was nestled in the corner. The game consisted of a wall of cactuars all lined up in rows. The point of the game was to throw balls at them, knocking them over. As one went down, more would pop up. When someone beat the game, they would get points.

Tifa was the best shot, throwing balls and knocking down each cactuar with precision. Aerith, on the other hand, was the fastest, throwing balls wildly as fast as they could. Some would bounce off the edge of the game and she’d have to stop to go get them. She was having the time of her life, hopping up and down as she yelled with Tifa to go faster. Her braid swung around her back, making anyone trying to get close to the game virtually impossible.

“Go! Go! Aaaaah!” Aerith cried, the flurry of pink moving quickly at Tifa’s side to hurl another ball. “I got one!!” Tifa was laughing, taking her time and knocking over each cactuar. The light on the game was flashing with the new high score.

“Isn’t having two people play cheating?” Yuffie asked.

“Yeah, kinda,” Aerith agreed, tossing another ball. “Ah! I got one!” 

“I wanna play!” Yuffie said. Aerith offered her ball and Yuffie threw it with just as much force, if not double, as Aerith had. She hit the jumbo cactuar on the top row and it tipped over. Their high score ran even higher on the screen, flashing in big gold numbers.

The three girls all gave their own excited hop, even Tifa, who had been mostly focused through her laughter. When the game finally stopped, she gave a stretch and turned. “So what have you been up to, Cloud?” Tifa asked.

“Cloud’s gonna take me to the Valentione’s Day ball!” Yuffie gushed. “D’you guys wanna go with us too?”

Cloud felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach when they both beamed at the idea.

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“Cloud, I didn’t know you danced,” Tifa said, lacing her arms behind her back. She swayed from one side to the other.

“I don’t.” he sighed, tucking a lock of blond hair behind his ear. He could feel his face growing warmer. “But I’m going to try?”

“We’re going shopping for things to wear!” Yuffie explained. “Cloud says he doesn’t own any nice clothes.”

Aerith smiled deviously, one eyebrow arched. “I thought Cloud owned something nice, though.”

He answered that comment with a glance that could cut through ice. 

Tifa giggled. Then, she asked. “Do you two need any help finding things? I have a dress but I’d love to help you find something Yuffie.”

Yuffie was practically vibrating with excitement. “You mean it?” she asked. Tifa’s eyes smiled warmly as she nodded. There was something special about shopping for a formal event. She was going to take advantage of having the chance.Besides, she hadn’t the opportunity to go shopping with Cloud for clothes before. It seemed like one of those rare opportunities that life doesn’t normally throw at you.

Going shopping for something formal had been a different experience when it seemed their lives had depended on it. Now that there was something seemingly casual going on, it seemed that the four of them had all the time in the world. The dress shop was _horrendously_ pink and gold _,_ owned by a chipper young man who was over the moon to have an opportunity to dress someone as well-built as Tifa. 

“I have a dress,” she insisted. “I can’t buy--”

“Nonsense! Model this--or this!--or ooh--” The owner moved quickly around the shop, stacking a black dress, a gold dress, and a blue dress in her arms. “Pick one and bring it back at the end of the night. It’ll be good for business.”

Tifa blushed. 

Aerith plucked a shorter green dress off the rack for Yuffie. Covered in fringe and sequins, the garment looked like a party in itself. 

“How’d you get Cloud to say yes to going to this?” Aerith asked softly. 

“I told him it was my birthday,” the younger ninja admitted. She hooked the hanger over her head and spun around, clutching the green dress to herself. “Do you like this?” she asked.

Aerith nodded. “Mnhm!” Then, she leaned in closer and spoke softer. “I thought your birthday was in November?” she asked.

Yuffie’s cheeks turned pink. 

“It is,” she said softly.

Aerith chuckled and whispered, “your secret’s safe with me.” Then, she pushed the younger girl toward the dressing room. “Go try the dress!” She urged quietly. “It’s perfect!”

As Aerith ushered Yuffie to the dressing room, she plucked a silky purple number off the rack as well. She held it up to Cloud, beaming. He shook his head. She nodded eagerly. Once Yuffie was nestled away in the dressing room, Aerith gushed, “You should try it!”

The blond shook his head. Like hell she was getting him into a dress twice. “Nope.”

“Please?” She begged, her lower lip jutting out. “You’re so pretty.”

“No,” he said, a little more firmly. He could feel his ears going red. Cloud wasn’t sure if he should’ve been laughing or shy about this. 

“It is your color, though,” Tifa said from across the shop.

“Not you too!” Cloud laughed, finally losing composure. 

Tifa smiled and shook her head. The heaps of fabric in her arms had grown since they had taken their eyes off her and the owner of the shop. She leaned over and whispered something to the owner of the shop. 

Cloud didn’t like the way he suddenly looked at him and clasped his hands together. “Of course we do!” The owner gushed. “You, sir, come here.”

A wave of panic formed in Cloud’s stomach. “Tifa, what did you say?” he asked. His childhood friend grinned, a sense of amusement on her face as the other man took the tape measure from around his shoulders. “Tifa, what did you ask--??”

* * *

The Valentione’s Day ball was supposed to begin at 7 o’clock. It was now 7:45 and Cloud was the one that was holding up the group. Though, it didn’t seem that it mattered to any of the women in the group. With their points from getting top scores at the arcade, they had purchased an abundance of foods and drinks. They sat in their shared room while it seemed Cloud took an unreasonably long time in the bathroom.

The three had purchased a plate of Valentione’s Day snacks. It consisted of cakes and cookies, as well as an abundance of bright red berries. After the last of the berries had been eaten, Tifa finally stood up.

The owner had had so much fun with the four of them, they’d all been allowed to borrow anything they’d wanted from the shop as long as they could return it the next day. Tifa assumed this was much of a relief on Cloud’s wallet as it sounded, though she figured Yuffie might keep the dress she’d picked for the night.

The girl seemed delighted. She sat on the couch on her knees, clad in a sparkling green mini-dress with a fringe trim. Yuffie had scoured the shop for the clunkiest platforms she could find. She’d been so excited when she had gotten her hands on them. 

Aerith’s choices mirrored her tastes at the Wallmarket earlier that year. In a silk red gown with a high slit and low red heels, Aerith had spent most of her evening getting Yuffie ready. She had fluffed the ninja’s hair into a choppy flutter of loose curls while she had only tied her own hair back for the night.

Tifa stuck to her favorites. Her blue and gold down was simple, it hung on her well and was just a little off-the-shoulder. She felt pretty in it.

Among the three of them, getting ready, putting on makeup, and doing hair had only taken maybe an hour.

Cloud had taken three.

“What are you doing, Cloud?” Tifa finally asked, leaning on the bathroom door. 

“I don’t know,” came the surprisingly clueless answer.

“Wh-what don’t you know?” 

The sound of mumbling came from the other side of the door. Finally, after a moment of getting no response, Cloud spoke a little louder. “I can’t tie it.”

“Do you need help?” Aerith asked.

“I can try!” said Yuffie.

“No…” came the humming of an answer. Cloud was in thought. Finally, after another minute of silence, he announced that he’d figured it out on his own. He came out of the bathroom, a little shyly, in a grey suit and vest, with a red tie. His black shoes had been tediously polished that they had a mirror surface. His hair was a perfect chaos of spikes. As much as he’d said he hadn’t cared about the event, Cloud had shown the most attention to detail out of the four of them.

“You guys were right,” Yuffie agreed. “He does look cute dressed up.”

Cloud felt his ears go red again.


End file.
